Chief of Inspiration

De’Ante Webster showcased paintings and books as a teen entrepreneur at the S.H.E. Black Marketplace event in Indianapolis on Dec. 1, 2018. He was offering the new edition of The Flood of Kindness – Inspired by Hurricane Katrina. We’ve changed the backcover, replacing the photo of 13 year-old De’Ante to the photo of him on the day he wrote the story when he was eight. This change is important, because we wanted to be sure that the reader understands how young De’Ante was when he wrote this remarkable and healing story. The new edition is available on Amazon Prime.

I used the new photo on the back cover as the basis of the title page image. This is the actual scale of the first version of De’Ante’s story.

We are also excited to announce that two versions of the dramatic adaptation of The Flood of Kindness will be performed in Washington, Virginia, on April 13 and 14, 2019 by Hearthstone School. One is for third-fifth graders and one is for a mixed-aged audience. The latter will include a discussion afterwards with first responders to strengthen the community in the face of disasters. I’m developing a curriculum in social emotional learning, kindness, and emergency preparedness to accompany the play with input from De’Ante and Hearthstone middle school students.

This project has three goals:

To inspire young people to trust their imaginations and the power of writing in the face of climate chaos.

To give young people an experience of inner resilience and possibility that they’ll need in the face of climate chaos.

To prepare young people to understand that their loving connection to each other, their family and their community is one of the most powerful keys to surviving in the face of large weather events.

We call De’Ante “Chief of Inspiration” because of the creativity, kindness and courage that his story has unleashed. We hope that The Flood of Kindnesswill continue to spread it’s goodness exponentially in the New Year. It is so needed.